Half to george h



(No Model.)

0. I. DERNELL.

CARRIAGE TOP JOINT.

PateqtedAprk aZO, 1886.

' UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES F. DERNELL, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE HALF TO GEORGE H. HERPIOK, OF SAME PLACE.

CARRIAGE-TOP JOINT.-

SPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 340,105, dated April 20. 1886.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. DERNELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented a new and u eful Improvement in Concealed Brace-Joints for Carriage-Tops, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in to the bracejoints usually put in carriage tops, one on each side, between the rear bow and the bow next in front of it, and known in the art ofcarriage-trimming as concealedjoints. Heretofore a joint of this class has consisted [5 of two straight solid bars hinged together end to end, so as to form a straight-jointed bar, which is adapted to bend n one direction only. Said bar has been pivoted at each end to suitable clips, by means of which it has been secured to the opposed edges of the back bow and the bow next in front in a position parallel with and concealed by the lower edge of the top-covering. When the bar has been secured in this position,its point of attachment to the back bow is at a greater distance from the bow-iron, which forms a common center from which the bows radiate, than its point of attachment to the forward bow, and the bars of which the brace-joint is c formed, being fixed as to length it has been impossible to fold the bows closely together.

The object of my improvement is to avoid this dilficulty, and I accomplish this result by making one of the bars of which the joint 5 is composed extensible, the bar being formed in two parts adapted to embrace each other and slide one upon the other, as hereinafter fully explained.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of myimproved joint. Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a carriage-top, showing the position of the brace when the 5 top is extended. Fig. 4 is a partial side elevation showing the relative position of the bows andjoint when partly folded. Fig. 5 is a similar elevation showing the bows and joint when completely folded.

The brace-joint consists of two bars, A and B, hinged together at a, so as to bend in one Application filed January 18, 1886. Serial No. 188,884. (No model.)

direction. Said bars are pivoted at their free ends to clips d and e, which are for the purpose of securing the brace-joint to the carriage-top bows f and 9. Bar A, the hinge c, and clips (I and'e do not differ from similar parts well known in this class of brace-joints. Bar B is divided longitudinally into two parts, I: and i, which are held together so as to slide one upon the other in the direction of 6 their length by suitable clips, j and is. Part h forms a part of the hinge c, and part 2' is pivoted to the clip d. One or both of the parts hand t is provided with a shoulder, as at 1, against which the opposite part abuts when the brace is at its normal length, as shown in Fig. 3. Two joints are used, one at each side 4 of the top.

In operation the brace-joint having the two parts of its extensible bar B closed to- 7 gether and the free ends of the joint secured between bows f and g, as before explained, that portion of the top-covering between the two bows is held extended. When the top is to be folded back, the hinge of the joint is 7 drawn downward, thereby allowing the bows to approach each other until the position shown in Fig. 4 is reached, up to which point the joint does not act differently from those well known and in use heretofore; but at this 8( point further movement in the old device cannot be made on account of the relative position of the hinge c and the pivotal points of attachment of the joint to the bows.

In my improvement, as the bows move from the position shown in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. 5, bar B is drawn out or ex tended, as shown, thus permitting the closer folding of this portion of the top than heretofore. 9c

I claim as my invention The above-described carriagetopjoint, consisting of bar A, clips (1 and e, and bar B, divided longitudinally into two similar parts, having the clips j and la and shoulder Z, all combined and arranged to co-operate in the manner specified.

CHARLES F. DERNELL.

Witnesses:

V. M. H001), FRANK. A. JACOB. 

